With the proliferation of new vehicle designs, it has become increasingly difficult to design baffles for minimization of sound transmission to automotive vehicle interior passenger compartments. New vehicle designs can create cavities that are difficult for baffles to seal because of the shape, location, size or the like of the cavities. Additionally, such cavities can be difficult to access, which, in turn, can cause difficulties for assembling baffles to the vehicles. New vehicle designs can also cause vehicle components such as fasteners or other components to be positioned in different locations within a vehicle and, as a consequence, baffles may have to be designed to accommodate such components while still being able to effectively seal or baffle components or cavities for minimizing sound transmission. As one example, it can be particularly difficult to design baffles to seal cavities between a forward body panel (e.g., a front quarter or fender panel) and an A-pillar of an automotive vehicle (e.g., a pick-up truck), particularly when the body panel is connected to the A-pillar with one or more fasteners.
The present invention provides a baffle for addressing one or more of the difficulties discussed above.